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THE GUITAR STYLE OF TONINHO HORTA IN SELECTED RECORDINGS, 1988-1992

JOSE EMILIO GOBBO JUNIOR

SCHOLARLY ESSAY

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts in Music with a concentration in Jazz Performance in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2020

Urbana, Illinois

Doctoral Committee:

Associate Professor Lawrence Gray, Chair and Research Director Associate Professor Michael Silvers Assistant Professor Joel Spencer Professor John “Chip” Stephens

Abstract

This study investigates the musical elements that define the style of guitarist Toninho

Horta, focusing on his harmonic conception. My methodology consisted of transcriptions and analyses of recordings from three albums: Diamond Land (1988), Moonstone (1989) and Once I

Loved (1992). Horta uses unorthodox chord extensions and voicings, along with inventive voice leading choices for common progressions, characterizing a sophisticated harmonic conception.

Observations about his rhythmic approach to Bossa Nova and interpretative techniques are also featured, providing a full picture of his style.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Biography of Toninho Horta…………………………………………………………1

Chapter 2: Background…………………………………………………………………………...6

Chapter 3: Purpose of Study……………………………………………………………………...8

Chapter 4: Album Diamond Land (1988).……………………………………………………...... 11

Chapter 5: Album Moonstone (1989).……………………………………………………………18

Chapter 6: Album Once I Loved (1992)...... ………………………………………………………34

Chapter 7: Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………45

Bibliography……………………………….…………………………………………………….47

Appendix A: Interview…...……………………………………………………………………....51

Appendix B: Transcriptions……………………………………………………………………...63

iii

Chapter 1: Biography of Toninho Horta

Antonio Mauricio Horta de Melo, or simply Toninho Horta, was born in December 2nd

1948. His passion for music, which bloomed early in his childhood, was far from an isolate matter.

His grandfather, João Horta, composed religious music and traveled around the countryside of

Minas Gerais, the biggest Brazilian Southeast state, as an employee of a railroad construction.1

His mother, Geralda, was an amateur musician who played the mandolin, and encouraged music appreciation at home. But perhaps Toninho’s biggest musical influence came from his older

brother, Paulo Horta, a professional bassist who also played guitar. Paulo was his first guitar

teacher, in a sense, and was also helpful in introducing him to the circuit of working musicians in

Belo Horizonte, the state’s capital city.

Surrounded by so much music in his formative years, it would be natural for Toninho Horta

to consider a career in that specific métier. He was hired by his brother for professional gigs at an

early age. At first he only played acoustic guitar, but later expanded his horizons by adding the

electric guitar to his palette. Such a commitment to music as a profession was set by his late teens.

Horta often mentions guitarist Chiquito Braga as an influence in his formative years, and they did

make a guitar trio record much later, in 2000, joined by their disciple Juarez Moreira.

The year of 1966 marks Horta’s studio debut in the recording of Andre Magalhães’

Historias Infantis, but the first key career opportunity came next year at the II Festival

Internacional da Canção (International Song Festival) in Rio de Janeiro. In that festival, his friend

1 Campos, Maria Tereza Arruda. Toninho Horta: Harmonia Compartilhada. São Paulo, SP, Brasil: Imprensa Oficial, 2010; 15.

and life-long musical collaborator Milton Nascimento made a huge impact with his song

“Travessia.” Although Toninho did not qualify his own songs to the final stage of the festival, his

appearance at that particular event opened doors to many collaborations with major artists,

including Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, Vinícius de Moraes, Jards Macalé, Luiz Melodia, Edu

Lobo, and Dori Caymmi. Toninho’s home, back in Belo Horizonte, had a descent musical scene,

but not at the same scale as the effervescent Rio de Janeiro, which was Brazil’s cultural capital.

After moving to Rio, Horta became a highly sought-after guitarist and composer, especially

by singers who admired his supportive yet personal style. His first experience in a Rio recording

studio was with Joyce Moreno, who was also the first singer to record one of his compositions,

“Litoral.” Other artists soon started to take notice of Toninho’s songs, including the vocal group

MPB4, Alaíde Costa, Nana Caymmi, Leny Andrade, and Marilton Borges.

Many of his most important collaborations were with a group of musicians known as Clube

da Esquina2 (Corner’s Club, in loose translation). Milton Nascimento is its most acclaimed figure

because of his international status in world music. Along with friends from Rio de Janeiro, this

group of mineiros (people coming from Minas Gerais) created a unique sound, which reflected the

atmosphere of a cosmopolitan city in the early 1970s. Clube da Esquina includes pianist/organist

Wagner Tiso, percussionist Robertinho Silva, bassist Noveli, guitarist/vocalist Lô Borges, lyricists

Fernando Brandt, Ronaldo Bôscoli and Marcio Borges, among others. Their most emblematic

project was the album Clube da Esquina, from 1972, which broke new territory in the Brazilian

music industry. It was a double album which also included detailed personnel information and its

cover art was a simple photographic portrait of two children seated on the side of a dirt road. Pianist

2 McGowan, Chris, and Ricardo Pessanha. The Brazilian Sound: Samba, Bossa Nova, and the Popular Music of Brazil. New York, NY. Watson and Guptill, 1991; 105.

Lyle Mays described their music as “… an amazing, unpredictable combination of cultural influences of the Western Classical harmonic sense and the African rhythmic sense, done in a completely different way from jazz… The Clube da Esquina records have things in common with the Beatles and Miles Davis, a combination of hipness, accessibility, and exoticness.”3

In 1973, Toninho co-lead an album with Beto Guedes, Danilo Caymmi and Novelli, but

his first album solely as a leader came six years later, in 1979, titled Terra dos Pássaros. This

album has an interesting history that captures the spirit of brotherhood among Clube da Esquina

members. Milton Nascimento was recording his album Milton in 1976 at a famous studio in

Malibu, CA, with a large budget. Since the recording was finished earlier than expected, Milton

donated the remaining studio time and tapes to Toninho, encouraging him to record his own

material. Most of the Terra dos Pássaros album was tracked then, however financial issues

delayed the completion and release of the project until 1979. Another important fact regarding this album is that, due to the lack of an interested company, it was one of the first independent productions ever made in Brazil. The self-titled album Toninho Horta, his second as a leader, was released soon thereafter, in 1980.

All through the 1970’s Horta was involved in some of Milton Nascimento’s most important

musical projects, such as the show Milagre dos Peixes, and the albums Minas (1975) and Geraes

(1976).4 Throughout the year of 1970, he accompanied one of the most prominent Brazilian singers of all times, Elis Regina, and appears on her album Ela. His first international tour came in 1973

with Gal Costa, another important Brazilian singer. A sign of his international recognition can be

3 Cooke, Mervyn. Pat Metheny The ECM Years, 1975-1984. Oxford University Press, 2017; 167. 4 Campos, Harmonia Compartilhada; 68.

seen in his position in Melody Maker magazine polls from 1977-8, where he placed 5th and 7th,

respectively.

After establishing a solid reputation as a sideman and releasing two albums as a leader in

the first decade of his career, Toninho Horta migrated to the United States in 1983 to study

arranging at the Julliard School of Music. Since he had not studied the subject formally, his

entrance exams only allowed him to take very basic courses. By his own account, he had already

mastered most of the content of the courses but appreciated the situation as an opportunity to learn

English.5 His stay in the US only lasted six months, which was enough for him to make connections and participate in several performances. One of those led him to be named an honorary

citizen of the city of Austin TX, a sister city of Belo Horizonte, and to receive the key official to

the city.

In 1986 Horta organized a major festival named Seminario de Música Instrumental. It took

place in the city of Ouro Preto, and included shows and workshops featuring the most important

figures in Brazilian instrumental music at the time. This very successful festival demonstrates the

altruistic side of Toninho, who has always been known for his generosity in sharing musical

information. The music school system in the United States was already highly organized at the

time, which was not the case in Brazil, and his brief stay at Julliard was inspirational to him in the

conception of the festival.

In that same year of 1986, Horta obtained a contract with Verve Records and started

working on the albums that are the focus of this research, Diamond Land (1988), Moonstone

(1989), and Once I Loved (1992). Diamond Land is an ambitious project, featuring over thirty

5 Campos, Harmonia Compartilhada; 100.

musicians including Wayne Shorter, Kenwood Dennard and Jim Beard. In the following year came

Moonstone, a project with similar musical directions, this time featuring Pat Metheny, Randy

Brecker, Russell Ferrante, and Billy Drewes. The majority of the tunes on both albums were composed by Toninho. The last recording analyzed in this project is Once I Loved, where he is joined by Gary Peacock and Billy Higgins, which was his first recorded incursion into the Great

American Songbook. Those three recordings boosted Toninho’s international career substantially.

After the recording of Once I Loved he signed with the BMI label’s branch in Japan and started a long affair with that country and with Asia in general. In 1995, he recorded the album

Serenade live in South Korea, featuring Korean guitarist Jack Lee. Two years later, Horta and Lee co-led From Belo to Seoul. Toninho has a devout group of followers in that continent, and lyrics to some of his most famous songs have been translated into Korean and Japanese. He has also established a reputation in Europe, especially in Italy, through performances and recordings with flutist Nicola Stilo and guitarist Antonio Honorato. Toninho was also a featured guest of the

German WDR Big Band. In the United States he has toured with Kurt Rosenwinkel, recorded with

George Benson and been featured as a guest artist at Berklee School of Music.

Chapter 2: Background

As mentioned before, Toninho was associated with a group of musicians and poets known

as Clube da Esquina, contemporary of the Brazilian artistic movement Tropicália6. Both groups

used electric instruments, wore provocative outfits and engaged in political militancy, although

Clube da Esquina tended to be less explicit about their views than Tropicália.

Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, both from the state of Bahia, started Tropicália with a manifesto explaining the intentions of their art. Gil (who would decades later become the minister of culture in Brazil) and Veloso were forced by their politics to exile in London in 1969.

Meanwhile, Milton Nascimento and Toninho Horta were able to continue to work and create in

Rio. Gil and Veloso returned to Brazil in 1972, the same year that members of Clube da Esquina would travel to Los Angeles to record their iconic album Clube da Esquina. Milton Nascimento was a catalytic force on that recording, but also embraced a spirit of collective creation, and thus featured a large group of equally important collaborators. Toninho Horta, by his own account, was mostly involved in the tune “Trem Azul.”7 Antonio Carlos Jobim went on to record this song in

1994, including his transcription of Horta’s original solo arranged for trombone and vocals.

Although both Tropicalia and Clube da Esquina incorporated various elements from pop culture, the latter had closer ties to Bossa Nova, along with their own Baroque and colonial traditions. Toninho Horta also developed a keen appreciation for jazz, influenced by his older

6 Sean Stroud, The Defence of Tradition in Brazilian Popular Music, Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2008); 5 7 Campos, Harmonia Compartilhada, 62

brother’s record collection. His list of favorites includes: big band music by Count Basie, Duke

Ellington, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, and the innovations of Gil Evans; jazz guitarists Jim Hall,

Barney Kessel, Wes Montgomery and Joe Pass; rock guitarists Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton and

George Harrison; West Coast jazz pianists Dave Brubeck and Jimmy Rowles; Impressionistic composers Maurice Ravel and Claude Debussy.

The recordings that I investigate show the musical affinity between Horta and American jazz musicians. A certain jazz influence had been heard already in his recordings as a sideman during the 1970’s, but not as deeply as in the selected material (1988-92). Some of the featured

compositions had preexisting lyrics, but those were mostly omitted in favor of either instrumental

interpretations or wordless vocalises. While some other studies have investigated socio-political

issues within Clube da Esquina, the focus of this paper is to identify the elements of his guitar playing that placed him as an important voice in the international jazz community.

Horta’s approach to guitar playing is unique and easily recognizable to the well-trained listener, and its elements can be tracked down and studied with tools that have been developed for jazz analysis. Some academic publications focusing on Horta’s work include: Thais Lima

Nicodemo master’s thesis from 2009; Victor Polo’s research from 2016 about Toninho’s solo on

“Stella by Starlight;” Raphael Ferreira and Éder Fernandes’ article from 2019 about the album Sem

Você. Those works deal with different aspects of Horta’s playing than this essay.

My interest in Toninho Horta’s music started developing after my enrollment at the State

University of Campinas in Brazil in 2005. One aspect of his playing that caught my attention was

that while sounding familiar and grounded in the roots of Bossa Nova, it presented surprising

elements. His approach to harmony on guitar is probably what distinguishes him the most, but in

order to provide an accurate documentation of his style, this paper will investigate other elements

such as his rhythmic approach and interpretative techniques.

Chapter 3: Purpose of Study

This research focuses on three recordings of Toninho Horta as a leader: Diamond Land

(1988), Moonstone (1989), and Once I loved (1992). One factor that influenced my choice of those

specific albums is that they were released by major record labels and circulated internationally,

while some of his other releases can be difficult to find in the United States. Another factor is that

the many aspects that define Toninho’s style are well represented in the selected recordings.

My intention is to identify stylistic elements that make Toninho Horta an important player

in the history of jazz guitar. Toninho is revered in his home state of Minas Gerais, which has led

to many locally published works about him; however, the significance of his legacy calls for deeper

investigations and warrants scholarly attention on a global scale. To this date, most of the literature about Clube da Esquina focuses on non-musical elements such as, for example, its political ideas and its relationship with the Brazilian dictatorial regime (1964-1985). While the attention given to the regime’s inhuman acts is undeniably important, I propose that the music is also worthy of

academic analysis. Toninho’s importance reaches beyond immediate local events, influencing

many jazz musicians.

One aspect that is unique about this project is that it focuses on Toninho’s approach to

chords, whereas most academic projects about guitarists focus on improvised solos. That decision

was made because of his harmonic originality, which can provide helpful insights to guitarists in

different ways, such as accompanying singers or performing a solo guitar arrangement. The

majority of performances examined here feature the nylon string acoustic guitar, and unlikely most practitioners of that instrument, Horta does not use finger nails. This element contributes to the subtle individuality of his sound.

I will make use of transcriptions to identify elements that make Toninho a unique player.

This approach has been used by jazz scholars extensively, because the object of study here is the performance instead of the score. Nonetheless, any material that might be relevant will be used for reference, as is the case of Horta’s recently published official songbook, featuring one hundred

and eight of his scores. Interviews with the author will serve to guard the accuracy of the transcriptions and provide additional information regarding each specific recording.

Many leading guitarists in recent years cite Toninho as an influence and demonstrate a

keen appreciation for his music, notably Pat Metheny, Russell Malone, Steve Cardenas, Kurt

Rosenwinkel, and Mike Moreno. His impact on my own development as a musician is tremendous,

which is one of the main reasons why I decided to focus on his style in this essay. Another factor

influencing that decision is that we are from the same state in Brazil, and music from there seems to have its own distinguishing stamp, examples including the work of Milton Nascimento, Lô

Borges, Beto Guedes and Flavio Venturini.

Key elements which determine the guitar style of Toninho Horta and will be described in detail in this essay include:

• Wide voicings including five or six notes, generating a full sound. Four note voicings are

more common in a jazz guitar context, especially when the performance includes a bass

player. Toninho continues to use to full range of the instrument even when accompanied

by a band.

• Frequent use of unusual chordal upper extensions, such as #9 in major seventh chords, b6

in minor chords, and b13 in half-diminished chords.

• Polyphonic conception in voicings. Even when accompanying other instruments or himself

on vocals, there is a continual focus on keeping the inner voices moving contrapuntally.

• Within traditional Brazilian rhythms a layered rhythmic conception, including double time

figures overlapping single time grooves such as Bossa Nova and others. Toninho’s rhythms

may be perceived as influenced by Brazilian northeastern musical genres such as Baião

and Maracatu, as well as by pop and funk music.

Chapter 4: Album Diamond Land (1988)

Diamond Land is the first of three albums recorded by Toninho Horta released by Verve records between 1988-92. The personnel vary greatly to suit each of the ten tracks, which feature

four different bassists. Six compositions are by Toninho, and the remaining four by composers

associated with Clube da Esquina. Although eight tracks feature vocals, it is still accurate to

describe it as an instrumental album. The only song with the melody delivered by singers in a traditional way is “Beijo Partido,” whereas on the remaining tracks of Diamond Land, the voice is

treated as an instrumental color within arrangements.

The liner notes of this album were written by guitarist Pat Metheny, who was already a

world renowned artist by 1988. In comparison, Toninho was a somewhat obscure figure.

Metheny’s notes read, in part: "Toninho has emerged as one of the most harmonically sophisticated

and melodically satisfying Brazilian composers of recent times... Somehow, he writes chord

progressions that defy gravity… As a guitarist, he's one of the world's great "compers" on viola.

(That's a nylon-string guitar to us gringos). He plays such great voicings with such a cool time

feel... (I've often described him to other musicians as the Herbie Hancock of Bossa Nova

guitarists).”8

8 Diamond Land album liner notes.

“Beijo Partido” is one of the most popular of Toninho Horta’s compositions. It received a surprising rendition by Earth Wind & Fire in 1977, which exposed him to a larger audience. On

Diamond Land, Horta sings his own lyrics in Portuguese and Joyce Moreno sings her part in

English. “Beijo Partido” and “Once I Loved” are the only two tracks featuring lyrics from all three

albums studied in this paper.

Toninho starts this version of “Beijo Partido” with a simple progression featuring interesting inner voice movement: from G6(9)/F# to Em11 the note D remain as the only common tone, while A moves down to G, and E moves up to F#. Along with contrary motion, this passage features a change of sonic texture from quartal to cluster. Finally, the Em11 is a great example of

Toninho’s spread out voicings, using all six strings of the guitar.

Example 4.1 “Beijo Partido” mm.1

That passage is followed by a repeated two measure phrase over a C pedal, leaving room

for different interpretation in terms of chord symbols. This kind of ambiguity is a key element of

Toninho Horta’s style. In the composer's original score,9 this section has the chord symbols

Fm11/C to Bb9/C, which is a ii-V progression in the key of Eb major over a pedal C. The same

9 Horta, Toninho. 108 Partituras De Toninho Horta: 108 SCORES BY TONINHO HORTA, 1st ed. Belo Horizonte: Terra dos Pássaros, 2017.

voicings appear in a ii-V progression in “My Funny Valentine,” to be analyzed later in this paper,

but they seem isolated in “Beijo Partido.” Another interpretation would be to consider it

AbMaj7(9)/C to AbMaj7(#11)/C. Regardless of the symbol used, once again Toninho is using contrary motion in his voice leading, with Bb moving up to C, and the note Eb moving down to

D. Also, each voicing features a major second cluster in a different place.

Example 4.2 “Beijo Partido” mm.3-4, 0:07

In the fourth bar of the A section Horta plays a conventional B7(b5) voicing, followed by a less common choice with D# as the root before resolving in Em11. This voicing for B7(#9)/D#

has a tritone on the bottom followed by a quartal structure with a major third on top, creating a

pianistic sound. That chord structure is reminiscent of F7 (with added extensions 9th, #11 and 13th),

which works in this context as a tritone substitute of B7, and also resolves into Em11. Toninho

also uses this voicing in the introduction of his composition “Meu Canário Vizinho Azul”

(recorded on the album Beto Guedes, Danilo Caymmi, Novelli & Toninho Horta, 1973), and also

in his arrangement of “My Funny Valentine,” analyzed later in this essay (page 39).

Example 4.3 “Beijo Partido” mm.7-8, 0:24

In the third A section, the Em11 is delayed to the second half of the bar, while the first half

features one of Toninho’s signature chords, Maj7(#9#11). The #9 is used often in dominant chords,

but rarely in Maj7 chords.10 A close look into this chords reveals two major triads superimposed:

Eb Major on top of E Major. In this example, Horta uses chord planing, moving the top four notes

of EMaj7(#9#11) by a half step down, as indicated by the arrows below.

Example 4.4 “Beijo Partido” mm.28, 1:23

In the second to last chord of the A section, Horta delays the sense of resolution of DMaj7th

by adding a #5 to it, which is quickly resolved a half step up to the 6th, treating the A# as a neighbor

tone. There is another harmonic implication in this passage with an F# major triad moving to a B

minor triad within the larger voicings. This procedure is also verified the upcoming analysis of the

song “Moonstone” (page 15).

Example 4.5 “Beijo Partido” mm.14-15, 0:41

10 More detailed discussion about this can be found further in this paper on the analysis of “Moonstone”, (page 16) which has EMaj7(#9#11) as the opening chord.

Toninho’s harmonic choices are very sophisticated, and his rhythmic conception is equally

deserving of attention. After the rubato introduction on “Beijo Partido,” he starts a Bossa Nova groove with conventional patterns,11 which gets subverted from the fourth measure on.

Example 4.6 “Beijo Partido” mm.5-16, 0:19

Some of the most common Bossa Nova guitar patterns are listed below for comparison

with Toninho’s:

Example 4.7 Bossa Nova pattern 1

11 For rhythmic notation in this essay, I will use two pitches: the lowest representing the root of the chord, and the highest representing the remaining pitches.

Example 4.8 Bossa Nova pattern 2

Example 4.9 Bossa Nova pattern 3

The most common Bossa Nova patterns feature the eight note as the smallest subdivision, but Toninho subdivides the beat in sixteenth notes instead. His decision might be explained three different ways: 1) double-time feel implication; 2) funk/groove influence; 3) Brazilian northeastern

genres influence, such as Baião and Maracatu.

Example 4.10 Baião Example 4.11 Maracatu

Toninho has collaborated with important artists from Brazil’s northeast throughout his

career, most notably with Dominguinhos, therefore idiosyncrasies from that rhythmic language

might have influenced his style. In 2004, he released the album Com Um Pé No Forró, entirely

dedicated to that regional music.

At the coda of “Beijo Partido,” the rhythmic pattern used in the lead melody is the same as some of the key patterns used in the accompaniment throughout the song.

Example 4.12 “Beijo Partido” coda, 3:25

In terms of form, “Beijo Partido’s” A sections are organized in 12 bar phrases (8+4). A similar structure appears in “Moonstone” and “Gershwin,” the following two tunes to be analyzed in this paper. Although the first thought that might come to mind when dealing with a 12 bar form would be the blues, in Toninho’s case there’s no apparent relation.

Chapter 5: Album Moonstone (1989)

The album Moonstone can be considered an extension of Diamond Land. Both albums feature the voice as an equal partner with other instruments, instead of prevailing over them. While

Toninho Horta was the sole producer of Diamond Land, on Moonstone he is joined by Ricardo

Silveira and Tony Battaglia. Many names recognized internationally in jazz circles appear here:

Steve Rodby, Billy Drewes, Danny Golthlieb, Mark Egan, Onaje Allan Gumbs, Russell Ferrante,

Rudi Berger and Pat Metheny. Nine of the ten tracks were composed by Toninho Horta. The two tunes from this album analyzed in detail here are the title track “Moonstone” (duo with Pat

Metheny), and “Gershwin” (performed by Toninho on acoustic guitar, vocals, and electric guitar).

“Moonstone” is one of the most challenging of Toninho’s tunes because of its unusual chord progressions. Surely one of the most compelling element of this recording is the initial chord,12 EMaj7(#9#11), already seen in “Beijo Partido.” It creates an ambiguous sound, since the

major third appears along with the minor third, which is labelled as #9 in this context. There is also a D# major triad superimposed over an E major triad. Only one note changes from

EMaj7(#9#11) to E7(#9#11), D# moving to D natural, but the sonic environment is transformed

12 In the version recorded on Moonstone he plays the last four bars of the song as an introduction, but on the first recorded version of the tune (Terra dos Pássaros, 1979) he starts with the EMaj7(#9#11) chord.

because of the importance of that movement from major seventh to minor seventh. Even though

the second chord is still dissonant, it is a resolution of sorts from the first.

Example 5.1 “Moonstone” mm.5-6, 0:15

The Maj7(#9) chord can be found in many compositions through jazz history: Gil Evans’

arrangement of “Venus de Milo;” Miles Davis’ version of “Round Midnight” from 1956; Wayne

Shorter’s “Speak No Evil;” Joe Henderson’s arrangement of “Without a Song;” Mark Turner’s

“Casa Obscura;” Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Retrato em Branco e Preto.” What is significant in

Toninho’s case is its consistency of use in many compositions and arrangements, and also the

prominence of being the opening chord in “Moonstone.”

Other interesting harmonic choices can be found in this recording of “Moonstone,” beginning with the melodic pedal in the introduction: the top note D#, the #11 of A7, sustains while the inner voices move down chromatically. Those two voices, the root and third, move downward to become the more colorful seventh and ninth. The notes Ab and C natural are passing tones, and the D# resolves upwards into E in the next measure. The introduction is also the last

four measures of the tune and is repeated, with the melodic pedal, every time that section is

reached, even during solos.

Example 5.2 “Moonstone” mm.1-2

The second bar of the introduction features another of Toninho’s signature chords,

F#m9/C#. It also appeared in “Beijo Partido” (page 10), and will be seen in the upcoming analysis of “Stella by Starlight” (page 31). While in “Beijo Partido” this voicing appeared isolated and opened room for different interpretations, here it is clearly a second inversion of a minor chord in a ii-V-I progression (F#m-B7-EMaj7). A close look into the upper structure of each chord featured in this progression reveals an imaginative procedure, with three major triads moving up chromatically.

Example 5.3 “Moonstone” mm.2-3, 0:04

Toninho’s voicings sometimes require unorthodox fingerings. In the first measure of

example 5.4, he stretches his fourth finger to reach a C# with a slide, at the high E string on top of

an A13 chord. It seems like he wished to include all six notes in that chord at the same time, if

anatomically possible. A similar approach is used over G13/A in the following bar.

Example 5.4 “Moonstone” mm.6-7, 0:18

From bars 6 to 8 in the example below the note A is sustained as a bass pedal point, opening up harmonic possibilities. He uses chord planing, transposing the same chord shapes through the entire passage except for the last chord (DMaj7/A), which breaks the sequence and gives a sense of resolution. Considering the relationship with the root A, the first bar is a simple chord movement from suspended to dominant but, due to the pedal A, the second bar presents more sophisticated harmonic colors with Am7b6 to Am9b6. The intentionality of the progression in those two bars is clear as noted below, as ii-Vs over a pedal. Nonetheless, it is interesting to notice the frequency with which Toninho uses a voicing that could be interpreted as a minor b6, but there’s always an

alternative that works better when the context is considered. The measure that closes this section

features an ambiguous AMaj7(#11) without the third (notated as C#m11/A because of the chord planing aspect of the passage) and a classic DMaj7 over A.

Example 5.5 “Moonstone” mm.6-8, 0:25

At bar 9, Toninho applies a flat 13th to a half-diminished chord, which is already dissonant by nature. The voicing used here is challenging in terms of fingering, with two viable options: 1)

first finger barre technique reaching the root and minor seventh; 2) fourth finger barre reaching the

top two notes. In the following measure he plays a Ab7(#11b9), which is a common chord that fits

either the altered or the dominant-diminished scale. What is interesting about this is the unusual

way he voices it, which once again requires some challenging fingering: a barre with the second

finger to approach the root (Ab) at the low E string and the minor seventh (Gb) at the D string.

Following up he uses fingers 3, 1 and 4, respectively, to play the major third (C), #11 (D) and b9

(A) on top.

Example 5.6 “Moonstone” mm.9-10, 0:27

Another characteristic of Toninho Horta’s style that can be observed in this performance

is his exploration of density in a chordal passage. In the following example, two highly dissonant

chords that include quartal sounds and clusters are followed by two sparse, less dense and more

open voicings.

Example 5.7 “Moonstone” mm.9-12, 0:30

It is a common practice for an accompanying instrument to keep its higher note of a voicing below the range of the melody. Horta ignores that concept for almost the entire time when Metheny plays the melody, which is always clearly heard because of the dynamics used by both players and also the stereo mixing. The following example shows the interaction of the melody with the accompanying voicings during in the second A section:

Example 5.8 “Moonstone” mm.5-16, 0:48

In the final three bars of the chorus pictured above, Toninho offers another imaginative voice leading choice for a simple ii-V-I progression: The ii is played in second inversion

(F#m9/C#), and from there to V (B7sus), top and bottom notes move down by a whole step in

compound parallel fifths. The inner voices B and A remain as a cluster in both chords, even though

in different positions (for F#m9/C# in strings D and G, and for B7sus in strings G and open B).

The top notes of the F#m9/C# chord are G# and E, and both resolve to F# (top note of the B7sus).

Moving from the B7sus to the next chord, EMaj7(#5), F# remains as the top voice, while

one middle voice goes up a half step (from B to C) and another middle voice goes down a half step

(from A to G#). The 4th of B7sus (E) moves down a half step, becoming the major 7th of E (D#).

Although a chromatic neighbor tone on the #5 over a Major 7th chord resolving to the 6th is quite

common, the way Toninho voices it suggests another hidden V-i progression: G#7 (G#B#F# within EMaj7#5) resolving to C#m (G#C#E within E6), similarly to what has been seen in “Beijo

Partido,” (page 11) but now featuring the dominant seventh on the V chord.

Example 5.9 “Moonstone” mm.25-26, 1:10

Toninho’s rhythmic approach in “Moonstone” is also worth mentioning. The entire first chorus is played rubato until the final two bars, where he starts a Bossa Nova groove. For the first four bars in the upcoming example, he plays a standard Bossa Nova pattern subdivided in eight

notes, although with a bass line which is more active than usual. In measure five, and at times for

the rest of the tune, sixteenth note kinds of figures are added and become a clear component of the

groove. Overall the approach here is similar to what was used in “Beijo Partido,” suggesting

similar sources of inspiration: Brazilian Pop, funk, double-time feel implication and Brazilian northwestern genres such as Baiao and Maracatu.

Example 5.10 “Moonstone” mm.15-26, 0:43

The second tune to be analyzed from the album Moonstone is “Gershwin,” Toninho’s tribute to composer George Gershwin and to the Great American Songbook in general. Throughout his career, Horta displayed a great affinity for that repertoire, recording songs such as “I Love

You,” “My One and Only Love,” “My Ideal,” “My Romance,” etc. along with “My Funny

Valentine” and “Stella by Starlight,” discussed in chapter six.

The harmony in “Gershwin” is highly chromatic, and the movement between chord tones

seems to be more relevant than chord functions. The tune is in the key of G major, and some chords

are borrowed from G minor, such as Aø7, Cm6 and CmM7. At the ninth bar of the example below, the Eø7 (featured in the G Dorian mode) seems to relate to the A7 of the following measure, while

Gm/F can be considered a passing chord. Many of the progressions in this song are open for

multiple interpretations, which will be addressed in the upcoming examples.

Example 5.11 “Gershwin” mm.5-16, 0:18

In the introduction below, he alternates G major and A half-diminished, adding an

interesting color to the second chord by switching the top notes from the minor 7th and flat 5th to

flat 13th and 11th, respectively. The large stretch between left hand fingers required for the

execution of that passage is technically challenging. Since the 11th and the 13th belong to the

Locrian mode, it is reasonable to still consider this chord Am7(b5) with added extensions. These

close voicings have a pianistic nature, which is a key characteristic of Horta’s style. The upper voices of the Am11(b13) also coincide with a G7sus.

Example 5.12 “Gershwin” mm.1-4

Another interpretation for the use of Am7(b5) is to consider this chord an inversion of

Cm6. The substitution of a minor chord for a half-diminished can be observed later in the song at

bars 28 and 29, with a minor ii-V resolving to A#m7(b5) instead of the expected Db minor.

Ambiguity prevails in that case, since the minor ii-V resolution can be heard in the Db minor triad

within the half-diminished chord, but the bass movement is unexpected and the nature of that chord

is unstable.

Example 5.13 “Gershwin” mm.28-29, 0:49

Horta’s inventiveness regarding voice leading is once again evident in the first A section

(figure 5.14). There is a beautiful five voice chorale with interesting motion in every line from

FMaj6/9 to E7#5, and also from E7#5 to A9(#11). While the bass moves down chromatically from

F#7#5 to FMaj6/9 to E7#5, then up a fourth to A7(9), the top notes move up chromatically: G, G#

and A. The note D is on top of GMaj7/B and F#7#5, and remain as an inner voice of FMaj6/9.

Example 5.14 “Gershwin” mm.7-9, 0:20

The effect of the first chord is somewhat ambiguous, with at least three interpretations in terms of harmonic analysis. In addition to GMaj7/B seen above, the chord is also felt as Bm(b6) and, as Toninho indicated in his published songbook,13 Em9/B. The option indicated above seems

to make the most sense, because, in a sense, it accounts for G as part of the chromatic movement

in the bass line (F#, F, E). On the other hand, the voicing of a minor chord with a flatted 6th also

appears in every other tune analyzed in this paper. In this case, Horta uses the open string G (the

flat 6th of Bm) next to the note F#, creating a minor second cluster, while in the other tunes he used

a major second cluster between G and A (respectively on strings D and G).

Example 5.15 minor b6 in “Gershwin” Example 5.16 minor b6 in other cases

13 Horta, 108 Partituras De Toninho Horta.

Transitioning out of the first A section, Horta uses an ambiguous chord that could be

interpreted either as dominant seventh with a major 9th and sharp 11th, or a half-diminished chord with added major 9th. The 3rd is omitted in either interpretation of this voicing. This voicing is

listed below as Ab7(#11)

Example 5.17 “Gershwin” mm11-13, 0:31

At bar 24 of example 5.18, there is a G pedal while the top voices ascend from a C major triad in first inversion to a B major triad in second inversion. The B major triad then holds as the

G bass note ascends a tritone to produce, surprisingly, a C#9sus, which could also be analyzed as

B/C#.

Example 5.18 “Gershwin” mm24-26, 0:45

In terms of the harmonic structure of Horta's composition, it is interesting to observe several passages where he subverts the common use of dominant harmony. The 9sus chord would conventionally resolve into a major chord a fourth up, but Horta resolves to a minor chord.

Example 5.19 “Gershwin” mm.26-27, 0:48

The first two bars of the C section are reminiscent of Benny Golson’s Whisper Not, with a descending bass line from F#m to F#m/E, followed D#m7(b5) to G#7#5. Instead resolving into the expected C#m, there is a deceptive resolution A#m7(b5). In a sense, that resolution can be heard because of there is a C#m triad in the structure of the A#m7(b5). To close up this passage full of ambiguities, Horta lands at G#m9 through a ii-V progression with a minor chord replacing the V dominant: A#m7(b5) to D#m9. The G#m9 gives some sense of rest, but also has a soft dominant effect and relates to the following chord G6 by sharing with it the top note B.

Example 5.20 “Gershwin” mm.27.33, 0:48

When accompanying melodies played on another instrument, it is a standard practice for the guitarist to keep the top note of the voicing below the melody. It's also typical to have a smooth melodic line in the top voice, avoiding large leaps. Toninho manages to break away from both

“rules” and still sound cohesive, because his harmonies have their own inner logic. As demonstrated in example 5.14, sometimes there are as many as five interesting melodies happening simultaneously in his chord progressions. Example 5.8 deals with the same subject, showing that his top voices were often higher than the melody in “Moonstone,” but that example also shows that he often sustained the top note from chord to chord. The following example highlights the active top voice movement in the first 16 measures of “Gershwin.”

Example 5.21 “Gershwin” mm.1-16

Toninho establishes a distinctive groove in this recording, which is basically a 4/4 medium

tempo swing feel with a pop music tinge. On interpretations of many of his tunes such as “Céu de

Brasilia,” “Diana,” (both on Terra dos Pássaros, 1979) and “Manuel o Audaz,” (Toninho Horta,

1980) the relationship is reverse, with a deliberate pop groove with some jazz influences. The harmonic rhythm on “Gershwin” is very fast, which makes his bass lines resemble a jazz walking bass line, even when he is simply playing half notes and reiterating the root of each chord. During the section illustrated on example 5.20, this walking bass element is crystal clear. Some other times, for example the introduction, the repetition of the root contrasting with the syncopated

rhythms above, approximate the resulting groove to a pop feel. The fact that he is the sole

accompanist on this tune gives Toninho freedom to explore his rhythmic dexterity.

The form structure of the song is unusual, as well as the length of phrases. On the version

recorded on Moonstone, Toninho plays a repeated eight bar introduction, which is followed by six

choruses as the structure below:14

Example 5.22“Gershwin” choruses 1, 2, 4 and 5

Example 5.23“Gershwin” choruses 3 and 6

Chapter 6: Album Once I Loved (1992)

Once I Loved has a completely different format from Diamond Land and Moonstone. The

majority of the tunes here are performed live as a trio with Gary Peacock on bass and Billy Higgins

on drums, with the exception of three tracks that feature overdubs on acoustic and electric guitars

14 After the sixth chorus he plays is one extra A section as a coda.

(“Pica Pau,” “Tarde” and” Once I Loved”), and the final track (“Minas Train”) which is solo guitar

with vocals and overdubs. In terms of compositions, the album features five jazz standards, three

originals by Toninho, one by Milton Nascimento and one by Antonio Carlos Jobim. A common

characteristic in all three projects is the instrumental focus of each, despite frequent use of vocals, in this case by Toninho. The two tunes to be analyzed from this album are “Stella by Starlight” and “My Funny Valentine.” Both feature Toninho playing the melody, whereas in the previous examples his role was that of accompanist. This new element will shed light upon a broader scope of his style.

For “Stella by Starlight,” our focus will be on the introduction chorus. It is a solo guitar

passage played rubato, somewhat moving in and out of tempo. Fermatas appear often, and

sometimes they are filled with arpeggios. The melody is introduced with a paraphrase, after which

Horta sustains an interesting Em11 voicing doubling the minor 7th (D) on strings A and G. In that

case, he is using all six strings, creating a full sound as in the introduction of “Beijo Partido”

(example 4.1). Finally, he’s also reaching for the extra note C# (the 13th of Em11) with finger four,

a procedure shown previously at example 5.4 in “Moonstone,” and which will be recurrent in

“Stella by Starlight” (examples 6.3 and 6.4).

Example 6.1 “Stella by Starlight” mm.1

In the following example 6.2, Horta achieves a pianistic effect by moving inner voices of

chords while sustaining the top note. He sustains the note F on top of the Cm7/G chord, while an inner melody emphasizes the note D. Those notes (F and D) are the 9th and 11th of the chord,

respectively, demonstrating his inclination towards colorful extensions. Two bars later he sustains

the 9th (G) on top of a Fm chord, while its 7th moves from major to minor in the middle of the voicing.

Example 6.2 “Stella by Starlight” mm.3-5, 0:06

In example 6.3 a similar procedure can be observed in the D7, which is right before the

bridge of “Stella by Starlight.” The b9 (Eb) and b5 (Ab) are sustained whenever possible on top,

and the #9 (F) appears momentarily. Listening to this section I would say that it is clearly heard as

a melody but is also perceived as a texture, in an arpeggiated manner. In the following measure,

Toninho voices the G7b13 with the Eb on top, but suddenly moves that upward to E natural and

back, toggling between b13 and 13. That sounds surprising because each version of the chord

would be related to a different scale. After hitting the natural 13 he adds a #9 on top. The same

procedure, of alternating from major seventh to minor seventh used over Fm (example 6.2),

happens here, this time over Cm.

Example 6.3 “Stella by Starlight” mm.16-19, 0:38

An important aspect of Toninho’s guitar work in this recording is the ways in which

harmonic colors in voicings are used to create an orchestral effect. The Ab7 chord at bar 8 is a good example, as well as the Am half-diminished at bar 15. In terms of fingering, Toninho often uses his left hand fourth finger to create the effect of a fuller chord when all the notes can’t always be sustained simultaneously. The resulting shape in the Ab7 example is very unusual, requiring a finger four barre technique to reach the top notes Bb and F.

Example 6.4 “Stella by Starlight” mm.8, 0:16

Example 6.5 “Stella by Starlight” mm.15, 0:36

In example 6.6, from m.9 of “Stella by Starlight,” Horta uses a melodic pedal, sustaining

the middle Bb, along with an F for the first two beats, while the outer voices move in compound

parallel diatonic fourths, thus creating a modal texture. The alternation of intervals between the

two bottom notes create a powerful sound, from perfect fifth to minor sixth, followed by perfect

fifth to major sixth.

Example 6.6 “Stella by Starlight” mm.9, 0:20

The chord which follows, in example 6.7, is vague and so could be interpreted in two different ways. The original chord at this point is E half-diminished, therefore Toninho’s voicing might be considered E half-diminished with an added 9th and omitted minor 3rd. Another way to

look at it is to consider it a dominant chord with a #11th, which invites the use of the whole tone scale. That sound has been featured earlier in this paper in the analysis of “Gershwin,” and is abundant in the music of Toninho’s early collaborator Milton Nascimento.

Example 6.7 “Stella by Starlight” mm.10-12, 0:23

In the A7(b9) that follows Em9(b5), Horta explores of the symmetricity of the diminished scale, moving the same shape by a minor third in the top three voices. The initial voicing features the minor 7th, b9 and 5th, and the second features the b9, major 3rd and minor 7th. Example 6.8

shows that the Bb common tone between Em9(b5) and A7(b9) resolves into the A in Dm9, which

is played with a sparse voicing without 7th. The next chord, Bbm6/Db, seems to have a dominant

function, and could also be considered A7(#5b9). It resolves with a deceptive cadence into the

relative major of Dm9, FMaj7/C. From the last chord of bar 11 to bar 13 there is a four note chorale

with movement in every note, except the sustained F on top of Dm9 and Bbm6/Db.

Example 6.8 “Stella by Starlight” mm.11-13, 0:25

Toninho uses a variety of articulations in his introduction in Stella. His large voicings are

very often pianistic in their effect, his arpeggiations can be harp-like and there’s often an orchestral

kind of sensibility to his voice leading. Interestingly and in contrast, he also uses idiosyncrasies of

the guitar such as slide (example 6.6, m9), hammer-on (example 6.1, m1) and pull-off (example

6.5). In example 6.9 m.6 of Stella, the F minor chord shifts from major seventh to minor seventh,

and the fact that the major seventh is reached through a grace note (in fact the minor seventh) with

a hammer-on adds drama to the passage. Sometimes he approaches the bass note with a slide before

playing the remaining notes of the chord, which can be observed in example 6.9 m.6, in the Bb7sus

chord. A similar approach happens in 6.3 m.16 with D7, this time with a descending slide. Some

other times he approaches all notes of the chord with a slide, as in G7 in example 6.3 m.17.

Example 6.10 m.13 shows alternation of staccato with legato notes.

Example 6.9 “Stella by Starlight” mm.6, 0:11

Example 6.10 “Stella by Starlight” mm.13, 0:31

The next tune to be analyzed from the album Once I Loved is “My Funny Valentine.”

Toninho’s version of this tune is, in comparison to “Stella by Starlight,” relatively conservative, mostly following the original chord changes for the exposition of the theme. Instead of the usual key of C minor, Horta plays it in A minor, taking full advantage of the open strings available in this key.

Toninho starts the arrangement by playing the melody by himself for the first six bars, providing a full context which includes bass notes. It is interesting to notice that after bassist Gary

Peacock joins in, Toninho continues to play bass notes, which is a practice usually avoided by

guitarists. At risk of sounding redundant, this practice enriches the performance’s texture.

He alternates one bar of simple rhythms and compact voicings followed by a bar of free- flowing arpeggios during the first four measures. The original harmony is delineated by the descending notes A, G#, G natural and F# in the inner voices, and the open strings B and high E appear as a pedal on top.

Example 6.11 “My Funny Valentine” mm.1-4

Example 6.12 “My Funny Valentine” mm.9-12, 0:30

An interesting harmonic twist comes at measure 7, when instead of playing the expected B

half-diminished chord, Horta replaces it with BMaj7(#9#11) followed by B7 altered, a progression

also used in the beginning of his own composition “Moonstone.”15

Example 6.13 “My Funny Valentine” mm.15-16, 0:22

15 Toninho replaces the half-diminished chord of a minor ii-V with a Maj7#9#11 in live performances of Jobim’s Corcovado (4 bars from the end of the form)

When this progression happens again in the second A section (bar 15), Toninho reaches the BMaj7(#9#11) by using chord planing, moving his FMaj9 shape (1579) down chromatically two half steps. A B bass note is added to this last four note structure, creating BMaj7(#9#11). The middle voice then descends a half step to shift the quality of the chord to dominant, B7 alt, in this case #9 and #11/b5.

Example 6.14 “My Funny Valentine” mm.15-16, 0:48

In two occasions during the melody exposition, Horta uses his left hand fourth finger to reach for extensions: E7 in example 6.15 m.30, and C7 at example 6.16 m.32. That is done in a similar way to what has been described earlier in this paper in analyses of “Stella by Starlight” and

“Moonstone,” when he adds an extra color that could not be sustained in a chord because of the nature of the instrument.

Example 6.15 “My Funny Valentine” mm.30, 1:47

Example 6.16 “My Funny Valentine” mm.32, 1:57

In example 6.17 leading into the bridge of “My Funny Valentine,” Horta plays G7sus to

G7(b9) featuring an F major triad moving down a half step to E major. The following four bars

consist of an alternation between CMaj7 and Dm7 over a G pedal, except for a brief Dm7/A played

at bar 19. In this section, Horta commits firmly to the original melody, refraining from the

arpeggiated “comments” used in the A sections, thus creating more space. Instead of arpeggios he

uses a more pianistic approach, playing the top note alone followed quickly by the remaining notes

of the chord sounding together. The voicings are simple, and when the melody lands at the note C,

it is presented as a cluster with the B.

Example 6.17 “My Funny Valentine” mm.16-20, 0:58

At bar 21, Horta introduces the sound of quartal voicings to his arrangement. The melody note is the major seventh of a CMaj7th chord, and he uses the “So What” voicing, popularized by

Miles Davis’ famous composition. It is comprised of four notes stacked in fours (E A D G)

followed by a major third (B).

Example 6.18 “My Funny Valentine” mm.20-21, 1:15

He soon returns to the sound of fourths at bar 25, this time using this interval in the entire

voicing. The same shape is moved up by a whole step, emphasizing very different aspects of Am7

and expressing modally.

Example 6.19 “My Funny Valentine” mm.25-26, 1.30

The tension created in the last bar of the bridge is a sharp contrast with the calmness of the

preceding seven bars. In example 6.20 m.24 Toninho moves one shape three times in descending

major seconds over the E7 chord, before landing at a more conventional voicing that will lead the tune back to Am. The top note fits the whole tone scale for the entire measure, and from beats 2-3 he uses chord planing on five note voicings associated with Ab13#11 and Bb13#11, respectively.

Example 6.20 “My Funny Valentine” mm.24, 1.25

Besides the substitution of BMaj7(#9#11) for B half-diminished shown in example 6.10,

one of the few other passages in which Horta changes the original harmony of My Funny Valentine

happens towards the end of the melody exposition chorus, example 6.21 m.31. It is a simple

addition of an Abm11 in between Am7 and Gm11, made more interesting because of the voicing

used for Abm11 and Gm11. In both chords here Toninho uses the same shape/sonority seen in

example 4.2 from "Beijo Partido," though this time without the lowest voice. In each chord the 7th

moves a half step down and the 11th a whole step up, which gives the impression of a corresponding

V for each ii (Abm11-Db9 and Gm11-C9).

Example 6.21 “My Funny Valentine” mm.31-32, 1.51

Example 6.22 illustrates the final measures of the theme exposition of “My Funny

Valentine.” The introduction of a passing E minor is interesting because of the addition of the

major 9th, F# that disguises the key of C major. The bass movement F, E, A suggests a cadence

ending in A minor, although the remaining of the example reveals ii-V-I ending the passage in

CMaj7/G. The final chord progression is obscured by the use of pedal point, with the A pedal under the ii chord, the G pedal under both the G7sus and the I chord and also the use of a sus type chord on the V.

Example 6.22 “My Funny Valentine” mm.33-35, 2.00

Chapter 7: Conclusion

Analyses of transcriptions from three different albums recorded within 1988 and 1992

made possible the tracking down of elements that characterize the style of guitar playing of

Toninho Horta. Some of those elements are unique and should serve to expand the jazz guitar

vocabulary, while others are slight variations of procedures that have been used broadly by

previous generations. It is the summation of innovation and tradition in Horta’s style that make it

recognizable.

The primary focus of this research was on harmonic devices applied to the guitar.

Imaginative choices for voice leading in standard progressions were singled out, as well as the use of uncommon dissonances such as the b13 to the half-diminished chord, b6 to the minor chord, and #9 to the major seventh chord. The transcriptions revealed Horta’s preference for large and

full sounding voicings using five or six strings, and a tendency to move notes within the chords,

making his guitar sound like a piano. Quite often, his voicings are ambiguous and open for different interpretations according to context. Along with his harmonic personal voice, Toninho’s rhythmic

approach to and development of various Brazilian rhythms, including Bossa Nova, Samba, etc.,

were also investigated. His patterns were rooted in the style of traditional Bossa Nova players such

as João Gilberto, however many new elements were introduced from various sources. Some of the innovations include the subdivision of the beat in sixteenth notes, creating a double-time feel implication.

Toninho Horta has released over twenty albums as leader or co-leader, and has participated in 60 albums in Brazil alone. He is acclaimed as a local hero in his state of Minas Gerais, where

many of his compositions have become standards and are consistently performed and recorded by

successive generations. Since the year of 2005, Toninho has been gaining increasing relevance in

the academic field in Brazil, with works about him being published in important universities across the country. In the United States, his compositions have been recorded by Brad Mehldau, Alex

Sipiagin, Kenny Barron, Rufus Reid, Yotan Silberstein, David Gilmore (jazz guitarist), among others. As a guitarist, he has collaborated with Pat Metheny, George Benson, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Ronnie Cuber, among others. This paper intends to acknowledge key elements of Toninho’s guitar style and ultimately to help raise international interest to this magnificent musician.

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Appendix A: Interivew

Interview conducted by Zoom conference on 4/20/2020

Horta: First question is mine! Where did this idea come from, a doctoral project about my tunes?

Jose: [elaborates…]

… I talk about elements that characterize your style…

H: Let me hear your opinion first.

Jose: Unusual extensions; Moonstone chord; minor b6; Different approach to rhythm in Bossa Nova; Polyphonic harmonic conception; Even when accompanying, changes voices within chords; Another important thing: Elements that put you as an important player in jazz history. Is it making any sense?

H: Let’s see, first question… You said I make harmonies that are... wide? Open? Unusual! Right?

J: Yes.

H: Unusual, but in fact, it’s not like they don’t exist, right, they’re around. They are there for everyone… music is free and open for anyone to research. Meaning, they are not usual, but they need to be studied, in a way.

I found these harmonies because of a research, but not in a formal sense. Let’s say, thinking of… Of course I want to transmit to others, but not in and academic way, to become an academic project.

My harmony developed by itself, in my search to form chords, inversions, that are ideal for the melodies that I’m singing. Got it?

J: Aham.

H: They developed like that. Has to do with your research, these movements that I make, not to stay for too long in the same chord, I try to connect with others, some progressions. I do that a lot, it is a custom of mine, because since early on, I listened to a lot of music, therefore, when I started to perform professionally, in my teens, around 16 or 18 and so… I started playing for dances, and I already had a huge background of information. And along all this time, fifty years of career, I could… naturally it is already in my “HD”, got it? Someday I must have heard something that inspired me… I listened to a lot of orchestral things, jazz, I have an open mind… [inaudible] What inspires the most is naturalness! When I see the thing is musical, it could have three chords, or could be a tune by Hermeto [Paschoal], or American jazz, to me it’s equally important, if it’s done with naturalness.

A lot of people have information but can’t transmit this natural thing, right? One chord here, and then other in another extension… I’m trying to give you a general view of how I think… But I think… You were thinking correctly… this development is very natural… substitutions… it’s not because I want to be creating or inventing anything, it’s just my way of being. My first compositions already had chords with ninths, melodies on the eleventh, since 18 years old it was like that. So we are already born with a conception… I mean, I started very young, since, my mon’s belly I listened, I manifested appreciation for

music. When I was 3 years old my mom found me crying listening to Debussy’s Clair de Lune, and there it goes.

J: I hear you.

H: So, there’s a lot of history with music, and I was developing it through time as a natural thing, to me, it would be like my rice and beans to play like that. It’s not like I’m trying to do something different to please, or… but in the end it worked out, right!? People consider my work being on different level, and this is nice for me, for sure.

J: Great!

H: Now let’s see what’s missing… characteristics?! Let me remember something else. You mentioned the groove… I think that… what’s different… I use a lot of… Exactly because of this very open conception, musically, I like pop, as well as classic, Bossa Nova, and everything else, music in general in the world. So, I try to make… In the case of Bossa Nova, I play it with more of a jazzy style, as if playing in a cymbal [sings], but more loose. I use a lot of arpeggios, that influence from harps, orchestras… When I make those songs with beats like this [sings in 6/8 with a backbeat], that’s my characteristic from pop things.

I loved Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Emerson Lake & Palmer. So the way I play today is a bit of this result of everything I listened to, got it? And I try to play, in a way… basically I created a style playing naturally the things that I heard as ideal. And now, in contrast, accompanying myself, or accompanying other people, I will play according to what the melody is suggesting. So this creating of chords, of top voices in chords, contrapuntal melodies, and such, it’s all according to my experience. I can play the same sequence in a very simple way, and I can also fill it with chords, to make it beautiful, depends on the conception of the song, right? A melody, you can play it with various rhythms, and adapt it rhythmically to any style, that it will be interesting as well. So my style of playing guitar is that, I use a sonority without finger nails, giving it a subtler sound, sweet, and at the same time I have, let’s say, a very good punch, in terms of pressure, because of so many recordings, and I “explain” the bass very well in the cadences. The bass is very important, to appear very clean in all grooves. I have good timing, with clear basses, not always you see it.

And there’s a secret, if you play in lower strings or higher strings… the top four strings of the instrument, it’s more of a jazzy thing, the inversions, you can go up there, and the bass part is also important. So, all these years, I ended up making harmonies in any region, in a very natural way. Let me know if I missed anything!

J: It is going great! I was going to ask you about pop influence. In terms of rhythm, I transcribed the groove in Beijo Partido and Moonstone, I thought they have a similar concept. I put as three possible “options” … You didn’t mention, but I wanted to ask… sometimes it seems like you are thinking double- time. Is that true or not?

H: Yes, for sure! Over a 4/4 I can play 6/8, or at least thinking of it subjectively, you’re right, that happens a lot as well. I can start playing a ballad like a “cancao”, with arpeggios, then in Bossa, or half Bossa half pop, would be “balada”, and later I can make pop indeed, with a backbeat, like [sings], and I can make it in any rhythm. So in my time, when playing, various types of groove go through my mind of

all those rhythms that are in my head, see!? So sometimes it seems like 6/8, sometimes more lyric, other times something heavier, or jazzier. If I start to change, rhythmically, the chords, that’s something more from jazz… see!? Something like that.

J: Great. So just to close on that groove thing, another thing that I put as a “hypothesis”. It’s hard to know where it comes from… well I can ask you… but one thing I guessed is that there is some influence from northeastern rhythms, is it fair to say so? Specifically, in your Bossa groove.

H: In Bossa I believe there is more… No… I think… Bossa comes from that Rio thing, almost like a slow samba, but that could become ballad, samba-cancao… So I think the groove comes more from the sophistication from jazz, my groove, at least in the bass and all. But the chordal part, the other fingers… Yep, well… eventually, sometimes I can play [sings baiao groove] suggesting a baiao, or xote, but I never thought it like you did. I think there’s a groove, in Bossa Nova, more related to jazz, and to pop, I use a lot of… Let’s say, pop I think like a music that has a backbeat, right?! With more pressure, stronger… But I never thought anything northeastern in Beijo Partido, I even thought it was strange, in a good way! [laughs] I’ll start to research as well.

J: No problem, good to hear what you mentioned about pop, it makes sense.

[technical issues]

H: But I forgot to say something. There’s a lot of this 3 groove that we mix with 2, it’s a mineiro 3, I call it Mina’s waltz, it comes from a pattern that musicians from Minas started to play since the Clube da Esquina times, maybe even before, but I’m not so sure… Anyways, in baroque [probably referring to Minas’ baroque] music, tunes by my grandfather, there was lots of things in 3/4… And I know there was some Spanish influence, and Portuguese, because Minas… Ouro Preto was the capital of Brazil right?! I’m not sure if capital of Minas… In the golden cycle times, even if it was not Brazil’s capital…

J: It was at least economical capital.

H: Yes, the golden cycle, exactly. They brought many Portuguese and Spanish people, and of course there was a lot of music. It’s said that there was a time when Ouro Preto had more musicians than New York. There’s a book that says that. That was a huge musical movement. My grandfather is from that area, there was a lot of baroque music at that time. So, I think it left a lot of this 3/4 groove, that mineiros use, Flavinho [Venturini] uses Beto [Guedes], Lo [Borges], Milton [Nascimento], me, and it’s a type of different 3/4, it is the most pop of them, it’s not an American jazz waltz, not from gauchos, neither guarania. It is a very mineira thing, always with a backbeat, a pop groove, that is a characteristic of Mina’s music, something very mineiro, I think. So, in the grooves, this mixture of [inaudible] to say that I’m thinking double-time, there’s that thing of playing in 4 and thinking in 6, 3 inside 2, something like that. So it has to do with what you said.

J: Cool, makes sense! Let’s keep adding value to the research. [laughs] Also, feel free to say anything that comes to mind, nothing will be used against you!

H: In the case of violao [acoustic guitar], I remember when I was young… My sister played a chord for me, I only knew Am7… when she played it with a diminished fifth I liked it a lot, and then I realized that changing one finger you change everything! Then I started to experiment, I played that chord with major 7th and #9th in the seventh fret, of E, and then I thought, let me put this note an octave higher. Then I made that inversion of the open bass, then those three notes on the seventh fret, and the pinky catching the major seventh in the eleventh fret. It was a way for me to find other inversions. To satisfy my idea of orchestration, to accompany the songs with other colors, other lines… I find it very important, I talk about it a lot in workshops, it is important to be able to play an inversion of a chord in various… with various top notes, could be the 5th, 6th, 7th or 3rd, got it?! To have this variety, when the singer is singing something, automatically you prepare something else, you accompany another way.

And something I didn’t mention much, using open strings to amplify the range of the guitar, I play lots of open strings, with arpeggios to sound like a keyboard, more of a wet sound than staccato, I always liked a fuller sound… lower as well [inaudible], could be with the attack… with the beat… but always looking for… even with tuning, I’ve worked with different tunings some time, it was to amplify the sound of the chords. Piano… guitar doesn’t have… Now with the quarantine I’m having time to practice piano, I’ll send you some harmonies later, that I make on piano, and you’ll see there’s a similar conception… different, the way I think, the way I “open” the chords. Lots of pianists say “you play in a way that nobody does”. So now I’m developing my pianistic side a little more as well.

J: Fantastic! Returning to that chord, the Major 7th #9… It is a strange chord… You don’t see it a lot. At least I can’t find of too many examples, but I found some. I’d like to ask if you, by chance, heard any of these example… For example, on Mile’s introduction to Round Midnight, he plays that. What I’m trying to ask is if you took that from somewhere, or you found it yourself?

H: I think… The Maj7#9?

J: Yes.

H: I think that I found it, but I could have heard it someday, and for the quantity of things… of movements that I make naturally to search for a sound of another, I could have found it naturally. I don’t recall taking it from someone. Juarez Moreira, a great guitarist from Minas, he says that Tom Jobim, when he made Luiza, he used that chord. But it was after I did it on Moonstone [laughs]

J: With Jobim I saw it on Retrato em Branco e Preto, in Luiza I didn’t see. I think on a recording from 1993.

H: In my case, Moonstone, I recorded in Los Angeles in 76, and the album came out in 79, see?! It’s the first recording of Moonstone, and it already had that chord. So some things, also to speak in general, I always listened a lot, but I never liked taking things, like phrases, sometimes I’d take a groove, or some other thing, but very little. I liked to just listen, and when I played I already put my “sauce” [laughs], my intention, see!? So I can’t precise if I took it from someone, but I could have heard as well, a lot of classical music, imagine those more modern guys, like we listened to, and symphonies, Ravel, Debussy, all those guys and many others, even the Romantics, maybe… that sound popped up, and we discover it, and it’s natural… Because… what did I do there?! The melody was on the major 7th of the chord, and I created another tension, instead of the natural 9th, I put the augmented and sounded beautiful. It’s

almost a Eb with natural E. So, I think the major triad… maybe minor as well… but the major triad always… its movement is very comforting. So even with other basses, the major triad is very nice to work with. So it sounds kind of like a Eb major with E on bass.

J: Great, makes sense. I have separated here more personal or more technical questions, I’ll be kind of mixing it… Another chord that shows up a lot, a voicing that’s minor with a b6. Sometimes it seems like you use it as an inversion of a minor chord but with the root on the 5th. How do you think that chord?

H: Minor with a 6?

J: No, this [plays]

H: I never though it as a b6. To me is always Major add9 with the bass on the 3rd, or a minor with 7th and 9th, the 9th on top. With that note that you put on top [9th], you played in the 4th fret, so it’s F#m11 with the 5 on bass. But if the melody is more towards the note A than G#, the it sounds more like E major… No… it would be…

J: A Major?

H: Yes, A Major, exactly, with the bass on the third. Add9 with the bass on the third. That’s how I think it, I don’t know if it is what it is [laughs]

J: Yes, makes sense. One thing that I am talking about in the analyses, is that your chords open room for different interpretations. I just thought of one… I think depending on the context you can figure but how about that [plays], that works as a half-diminished, but also was dominant… You play it on Stella, on Gershwin… Any considerations about it?

H: Yes… I use that chord as dominant… without the minor third, right?!

J: Yes, no third.

H: It could be a passing… for example if you play that… Um Girassol da Cor do Seu Cabelo [Lô Borges’ song recorded by Toninho], [sings], that second chord, you can use it there as a half-diminished, F#.

But I never stay there. If I stay there for a while, I’m thinking as dominant. Now if I play that chord with that note and raise it a half step, would it be the 5th? The 7th?

J: [plays] This from this? [9th to minor 3rd] Then it’s clearly half-diminished.

H: Yes… well, I only use this chord thinking of half-diminished, the one that you played that seems dominant, only if I make that [sings 9th to minor 3rd], only if I make that shape. But if not, I’m thinking dominant.

J: Cool, good know! Now a very general question. There are some people doing research about you. Do you think there’s something missing, that normally people forget to mention… about your way of playing?

H: I can’t think of anything now… But I’m thinking of another chord, that also has the diminished 5th… Play that Em7(9) in the seventh fret…

J: [plays]

H: Now, with finger 1, put it on Bb, down there… No... the middle finger...

J: [plays] Hmmm… half-diminished with a 9th.

H: Yes, exactly. I use it a lot as well… On that position. No all the time, sometimes…

J: Something more historic… maybe not… Back to those three albums. I noticed you’re the sole producer of Diamond Land. Then on Moonstone there’s Ricardo Silveira and Tony Battaglia. I would like to ask you if that changes much, if the production aspect influences a lot… in the direction of the songs... or... Thinking specifically about those three albums.

H: For example… Basically, there are orientations from the producer. When I made Diamond Land, I chose repertoire by myself, it was all recorded in Brazil, already thinking of the American contract, but I had total freedom to choose repertoire and invite the musicians that I wanted. That’s Diamond Land, and it was mastered in the U.S. Now Moonstone, with Ricardo’s production, I made the bases in New York with a group, and I don’t know if I went for some job in California, but he said “let’s record some stuff with Peter Erskine and John Patitucci”, and I recorded two songs there, that I didn’t use on the album because it was too different from the conception… It ended up good, but different from what I was doing in New York. When I got back I substituted the two songs, I think Gershwin, I ended up doing solo, and I’m not sure if Saguin, I think both that I did as a trio I ended up recording by myself, so it would be more my style… It was too much jazz! When I played with the musicians that played with Pat [Metheny], who were our fans… that story of who learned with who… I found out later that if I said I was older it resolved the case… I’m older, I was born first! [laughs] It was my solution… Then I recorded the bases with Mark Egan, Danny Gottlieb, they already listened to Brazilian music, and had affinity with us… It was… minus that thing of the suit and tie, play elegant, jazz and such… They played well, were young guys, I adapted better…

But on Once I Loved, that was an album that the recording company asked me to… They even wanted to put me on a seven years contract with them. I’d be the only musician from that time… I think at that time they had hired Ricardo Silveira, Joyce… Maybe 3 or 4 Brazilians, and in the end they said “we want to keep you in the cast”, would be a seven years’ contract “but we want to have autonomy in five”, talking about repertoire, musicians, directions “and you’d have your freedom in 2”. So they saw my work was going well… but I was… At the time… I don’t regret, because I did many other interesting projects, and I didn’t want to be tied to this jazz vibe, so, afraid of becoming a jazz musician… so, the last song on that album Once I Loved, is a song called Minas Train, I play by myself, it’s a relationship of mine with Minas Gerais, it’s like I was saying “no, I don’t want to stay on that jazz vibe”, see?! I want to continue to be Brazilian! That’s why I didn’t take the contract… If I had signed it… seven years… Today I realize how fast seven years go by! If I knew how fast it would be, I’d have, maybe at that time, accepted it… I’d have a budged compared to albums by Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, at that time, you see! The 90’s… But it’s all good, I think I opted well, because that was when I could save my musical identity. I didn’t want to become a jazz guitarist and composer. Then I recorded that album of classics… standards in a non-standard way. [laughs] There was a critic, I think Bob Herald, I’m not sure if in Boston, he said that, I thought it was interesting.

So the producer, the CEO, or the A&R of Polygram at the time, Richard [inaudible] came to Brazil to sign the contract in 88, he said “I want you to record a jazz album, and I want to suggest Billy Higgins.” Then we went to hear him at Bradley’s in New York, playing very light, but very musical, and I said “let

me choose the bass player”. I liked Gary Peacock playing with Keith Jarret, then we… well, we discuss the… of course, the guys are hiring you, so you make a 50/50. I liked Billy Higgins, so let’s work as a trio. Then they suggested Eliane Elias, who was already my friend at the time, and everything worked out great. So the producer has this thing of direct musically, choose the band, repertoire, so sometimes…

I always did it, in every album, even in Brazil when someone calls me to play on a song, and It wasn’t the way I thought it should be, then I changed the harmony, the bass groove, I’d say “change that bass player!”, or “let’s make a new harmony” … and in the end, the recordings I make with other people sound like my stuff, because I end up bringing it to my world, of my knowledge and musical taste, and a lot of people thank me for that. I’m even making a balance now with this pandemic, including copyrights stuff… I stayed, in fifty years of career, going through various situations, signing with sub-publisher and what not, song of mine that Earth Wind & Fire recorded and I haven’t resolved yet, so I’m reorganizing my catalog. I thought there were 30 versions of Beijo Partido, at the most, then I found 50 versions in one website alone! So I’m making this research to give to someone to administrate… I never had time for that, I only had time for music… see… I mean, it was great as well! [laughs] If I had split my time with business, I wouldn’t be the musician that I am, I’m sure of that. So I lost a lot of money on that, to have time to dedicate, really think about music. It’s a courage we have to have, and I had.

J: Great, the world thanks you! What you mentioned about leaving your stamp on other people’s recordings, makes all sense because you have such a strong musical personality.

H: Right, it is true. Lots of people hear my guitar and say “that’s Toninho!” [laughs]

J: So, back tracking, you mentioned Gary Peacock, I’ve read it somewhere… Did you get to work with Keith Jarret?

H: No, not with Keith. It’s one of my dreams. He’s very systematic, but an incredible guy… musicality… Another pianist that I’d loved to have played with… well, I still can… it’s Herbie Hancock! We’ve met a few times, in dressing rooms, or studios, but it never happened to record an album together and such.

J: How about with Milton [Nascimento]?

H: True… We got there with the bases recorded… Or maybe we played together… Or maybe the song he played I didn’t… I think… So anyways, we’ve met, he knows who I am… But someday it will work out, it’s a matter of opportunity… It’s all good.

J: Right, he’s one of the heroes.

H: for sure… Do you play electric and acoustic guitars?

J: [explains]

H: Send me some of your mp3 some time!

[Some time talking about Youtube and copyrights]

H: Okay, let’s continue.

J: About songs that you recorded several times… For example, Gershwin… Do you have a specific process when you’re recording something you’re recorded before? Do you listen to the other versions?

I’m asking because live versions seem to be a lot more open, it doesn’t seem that you like playing the same voicings… So how’s that process, of record the same tune again?

H: Yeah… If I record it again, I don’t need to check other versions to know what I’ve done… I have a… I think I have enough knowledge to play the tune in various ways, and depends a lot on who is going to play with me as well, you see?! I think those live versions are related to who is playing… to simplify, or to elongate them or open room for solos… Also the mater of groove… Sometimes when the band isn’t too firm, when they’re not pleasing me, I try to play the song faster to end it faster! [laughs] I want, still this year, to create a band, with a lot of rehearsal, something I’ve done a bit in the 70’s, but never the way it should be done. See, the Americans, before they go out with an album, for example, I saw an interview with Lyle Mays, it’s been a month since he passed… Lyle said that when they prepared an album, they already had it all on computer. When they went to the studio they changed one thing of another, but the idea of the album was there, you see!? So, that’s marvelous, to be able to construct all the album’s idea, check solos, you can practice the solos, you can amplify… Then when you go to the studio, a lot less time is spent. There’s a lot more maturity in the ideas, I liked that idea a lot. It is something that I… I always knew the Americans rehearsed two months before going to the studio… And now thinking of the digital. They already did it digital, on synclavier and all… It was all ready when they got to the studio… Then you hear those impeccable things! Because… the world knows… If you play with a lot of freedom… even in jazz, if you’re playing the beat too out of tempo… it’s too much jazz, modern… In their case it’s a more pop music, so there’s freedom only for the soloist, but the band is playing as if it was a pop band, you see?! They’re playing exactly what Pat needs… But I still want to do that [laughs], I think about doing that… let’s see if I’m able, if it’s god’s will.

J: Now comes up a question about musicians… musicians you like playing with… mixing it with another questions: versions of your songs that you like… other musicians playing your songs… [technical issues]

Who do you like? Nowadays there are even many Americans recording your songs. Can you mention examples that you liked?

H: Generally, the ones who get closer to my atmosphere, musically, it’s more the female singers, Flora Purim, Nana [Caymmi], Joyce, Lisa Ono… mainly because they have me playing [laughs]. That was a good one… But I think… I’ve heard versions by Dave Kikoski, and other musicians who recorded, Rudi Berger has a lot of that… he seems mineiro, spends a lot of time in Brazil… So, Rudi is cool, his spirit is very Brazilian, he understands our vibe… Rudi is one of them… also Nicola Stilo, for sure, Italian flutist…

J: Those two albums are some of my favorites!

H: Nicola is a genius! His musicality is high level… He’s capable of making a recording as I’d like… because he respects a lot the way I play, and compose, the spirit of the song, and being musical… he never really recorded specifically lots of my songs… we did many shows, but I understand as recordings as well, right?! Maybe he recorded some of my stuff, I need to check. But nowadays [inaudible] instrumentals are very different, it’s great, I like it, but usually the singers please me more than instrumentalists, in that case… There’s one or another little wrong note…. Or maybe the person’s rhythm, in the song, isn’t ideal… or there’s a drummer who isn’t playing a nice groove… If there’s something that bothers me, let’s say, I feel as a general result. We know there are excellent musicians, all those that I mentioned, many

others, who recorded, surely they did cool things… eventually there’s one or another thing I don’t like… sometimes the bassists can’t play samba correctly, on acoustic bass for example… Like when I recorded the album Once I Loved, there was a song in which Gary Peacock said: “Hey Toninho, find another bassist, I can’t play this song!” [laughs]. I think it was Meditation [it isn’t on that album, so it was likely the song Once I loved, or another album] … Then I called Sergio Barroso… He wasn’t being able to feel it… There you go, one of the world’s greatest bassists, said that to me [laughs]. There’s that…

J: On the recording? Isn’t the bossa you’re mentioning Once I Loved?

H: Maybe…. But no, I think it was Meditation…

J: Maybe Tarde?

H: You check it out and tell me later. [Talks about his catalog and about trading research material] I identified 450 recordings, but I know there’s much more.

J: [Talks about research dynamics]

H: [More about trading materials] Okay let’s go back to the questions!

J: I’ve seen all of your interviews… Is there something that people don’t ask you that you think they should?

H: It’s a good question, but I can’t think of anything now… I remember I very good recent interview with Lilian [inaudible] Derik, I think he or she is French, there’s a good talk about my music. I’ll send you articles or anything I find. What I haven’t said yet… it’s difficult. I can write for you about specific topics.

J: I think what you’ve said so far already complements the essay greatly. Let me see if there are more questions… Something generic that could open other doors… about recordings that I notice that you leave the count off…

H: “Diana first!”

J: [laughs] Also Pilar, you give some instructions…

H: Yes, we do that when recording, and sometimes it sounds so spontaneous… recently I recorded with an Italian singer, Barbara Casini, she came from Italy just to record songs by Noveli, who was a great companion, during the Clube da Esquina times, recorded with me as well, many times, Noveli, from Pernambuco, lives in Rio all this time… he’s having some issues, can’t play anymore, so we did an album in his homage. I’m sharing the album with her, called Barbara Casini. Then in the middle of the thing I made a comment, but it was so spontaneous that she said “let’s leave it in”. It happens a lot, we think “that was sympathetic”, something that happened and was so natural, that we leave it. I think even Miles has something like that, speaking…

J: Yeah, and with Miles some other recordings are starting to come out…

H: It’s something we check later and think “oh that was cool” … We use one thing or another… But if it becomes fashion, that’s great as well, you can see more of the artist.

J: I did that on my album.

H: [asks about my work]

[After mentioning acquaintances Dede Sampaio, who is a friend of Larry Gray, Horta sends Gray a hug]

[More talk about Minas Gerais]

J: Toninho, I remembered another question here… What do you think about the importance of academic studies about your work?

H: I think it’s great. A guy just finished his masters about it at UFMG, Leandro do Carmo. There’s Douglas Fonseca from Campinas, Thais Nicodemo, also a girl in Austria… So there’s a lot out there already, I think it’s good, the more the better.

J: Something else… Most of the works that I’ve found about Clube da Esquina focus more on social and political aspects… Do you consider that important as well? Or there should be more on the music?

H: Oh yeah, that is the way, I don’t think you need to mention anything political or social, since that has been approached a lot. Clube da Esquina has always been considered a movement with more musicality, superior to Tropicalia and others, it was more about music. So I think that’s more important. In your case, you’re talking about my tunes, that’s where my contribution is. For example, I helped organizing the bases… [Technical issues]

[We start the call over, I ask about his relationship with Antonio Carlos Jobim]

H: … There’s also his symphonic things, like Urubu, so Jobim is our great Maestro, of my generation, and even today, he influences a lot of people.

J: I wanted to ask about your interaction with him, did you guys record together?

H: Yeah… Recording it was only one, with [Maria] Bethania, album Dezembros, from 85, I recorded the track Anos Dourados. We chitchatted, made an arrangement there, in terms of recordings it was only that. But I visited him at the time, the 70’s, with Ronaldo Bastos, in his house in Leblon [Rio neighborhood], then we met in New York when I was playing with his son, Paulinho Jobim, at a bar/restaurant… Bahia!? I forgot the name… Many musicians showed up, I played a lot with Claudio Roditi, who left us recently… great friend… and Paulinho Jobim. He went there to check us out, and when I recorded in 98, the album From Ton to Tom in his homage, I went to Astrud Gilberto’s house… No, I was playing with Astrud in NY, and she said let’s go visit Tom, so we spent a day with him, and we took a picture that ended up in the album. So, it’s a guy that I have all respect and admiration for… He was always… when we have a master, a big reference, we don’t want to bother much, so I was never too much around him, or [Eumir] Deodato, also another guy I admire… Speaking of, I want to talk to Deodato… But musical references, it’s everything, the way he played, and Tom had a facility of making simple songs, but with high quality, and his work along with Vinicius [de Moraes] also, it’s impressive… the lyrics, the songs, made a lot of people cry, remember the girlfriends, those things [laughs]… very good.

J: Any other figure that you had or have as a reference, that you remember the interaction with?

H: From Brazil?

J: Anywhere

H: For example, [Henry] Mancini, I’ve always been his fan, those soundtracks…

J: Did you get to meet him?

H: No… unfortunately. But, it’s a phenomenal guy. And, let me see… who else?! That was my idol and I ended up meeting… I liked Deodato a lot, the Brazilian guys… There’s a lot of people…

J: Let me ask you then about your recordings with João Bosco. I never heard you talk about it, but you recorded on some important albums of his, such as Galos de Briga…

H: Yes, his first albums. It was very nice… João is mineiro right… We don’t speak maybe because we are mineiros, very quiet, but João is a very cool guy, with a great work… But I say that that Aqui Oh [Toninho’s song] beat, I did it before him! [laughs] That partido alto thing [sings]… Joyce does it as well. I did in first on that album from 69, with Milton, on Aqui Oh. The album…

J: Courage?

H: No… The one with Beco do Mota… the drawing of his, a little church… Me on guitar, I think Paulinho Braga [drummer], Robertinho [Silva] on percussion, and Bituca [Milton’s nickname]. That was the first recording of that type of guitar… I was more in touch with Tunai [João Bosco’s brother] who passed recently… I even composed a song for him… He was closer to me… João was very busy, the other was more relaxed.

J: Ok… We’re almost arriving here at a consensus… Regarding people transcribing things of yours… How do you feel about it? Do you feel chased, or something like that?

H: Well, I understood the question in a way… there are two things. About people transcribing, I think it’s cool, and more often I see people looking for harmony as another… let’s say… goal in music. There’s a lot of people… for some time it was all about speed, versatility, and such… And I’m seeing a lot of people playing in harmony, lots of things similar to what I play, you see?! So that is nice, I find that to be cool, I think I am contributing for the expansion… And there’s people, even in NY, who say that my contribution in harmony in the world was… Some people even say that, about my contribution… I find that very good.

Now in the beginning of the question I thought it was about people writing lead sheets for my songs. A lot of people… When I see charts by other musician, I see that they don’t understand very well… what I want to “say” … Sometimes the division is different… Or sometimes one note that I play… That would be… not part of the melody, but as embellishment of arrangement and such, and they write… So I prefer to write my own charts, since I know where to I want the melodies [laughs]. So I see difficulty in some people understanding some of my songs, and it’s written a bit wrong in terms of melody. Now the fact that they are published and disclosed, I find that good. I even wrote a book, with progressions, and talked a lot about my work, as a way of leaving it out there, for the future and all. There’s no problem. Because each person is different… A guy can transcribe all my songs… by the way the other day an Argentinian appeared on Instagram playing exactly my harmonies, saying that he is my fan… there’s a guy from Colombia who is in California, great young pianist… Molina…. Jesus Molina, a great guy… he said he was my fan… So I’m pretty well known, in the world, but nobody will play exactly the same way I do, because each person… it’s individual… They can get very close but… Like those who imitate Pat… some people imitate him in the guitar sound, the effects, his phrasing…

J: The hair… the clothing… [laughs]

H: [laughs] Yeah… it’s too much… I think you need to take a little something, and leave space so you can create your sound and your individuality… That’s why, my whole life, I never copied too much… I always followed my brother’s orientations, to listen to the big bands, the classics, to play in dances, in a way that contributed… and in a natural way… within what I knew how to do… In the end, he gave me strength and I achieved what I achieved, the dream of my brother Paulinho…

Appendix B: Transcriptions

“Beijo Partido”: introduction and first A section

“Beijo Partido”: A section rhythms

“Moonstone”: introduction and first A

“Moonstone”: second A with melody

“Moonstone”: second A rhythms

“Gershwin”: voicings on introduction and first chorus

“Stella by Starlight”: introduction

“My Funny Valentine”: first chorus